Entries tagged with the_vampire_relics

Very briefly, the story behind this is, since Cadmus was essentially the Apostate's only child, but also the child of Tarmi, the Apostate wished to pass on to him the Mysteries of the Colleges of Khemeth. He didn't need to do this at all, considering Cadmus was more than well-equipped to serve the purpose of his creation; to kill Vampires. The Dark Chylde of Night was also taught Roman Mysteries by his cruel master, Nissius, so he was already well-versed in many Magicks.

But they were not the Egyptian Mysteries, the secrets of the chambers far beneath the pyramids. So the Apostate laid his hands upon and within the vivisected Cadmus and passed all that he was into his alchemical son. And it drove Cadmus to brink of madness, and perhaps a little bit beyond.

After he healed and and wandered the subterranean chambers underneath the Holy See, Cadmus grew into his Egyptian heritage, both through the Khemethian Tarmi and the alchemies of one of the greatest Magi of Khemeth, the man who would become the Apostate.

So... What Maria/Eve saw when she was pulled into the waking dreams of Cadmus in The Chalice was the cellular and Magickal roots of the Abomination.

The picture, which will eventually be coloured and very-lightly shadowed, is meant to be the earliest-known artistic representation of Cadmus Pariah, done in the tradition of the hieroglyphs and renderings found within the pyramids. The work was ordered to be created in fresco style on the ceiling of one of the more dreadful ritual chambers maintained below the Vatican by the Apostate. It shows Cadmus as he was when he came to the Apostate after his long tribulation at the hands of Nissius. He still very much had the Mark of the Elven upon him, and had never cut his hair. The Apostate decked him in traditional Tarmian garb and bade him hold the Basin of Blue Flame for the fresco to be created.

As you can see, Cadmus' hair was black, as were always his eyes. The eyes are intentionally light-free, since Cadmus absorbed the light around him, rather than reflecting it outward to exhibit his soul. Only after he becomes a true Vampire does he begin to have light shine in his eyes. The nails are also black. This harks back to that same story of Maria, where she notices that both his finger and toe nails are painted black. This is something Cadmus has always done. There's really no reason for it, except I just think it's dangerously decadent and deviant. Ha!

I wasn't going to do this, but I don't have much of a choice at the mo, so here goes.

I have a few copies of The Blood Crown that I am selling, and I will sign them before I send them to you. The price is $26.00 and you can PayPal the fundage to me using susperia5@yahoo.com. Just be sure to include your name and address, so I'll know who to autograph the book to and where to send it. You can also send me a cheque. My mailing address is:

If all goes as planned August will be the month of the release of the second installment of The Vampire Relics, entitled The Blood Crown. With breathtaking cover art drawn by Art Center’s Amanda Cook and with plans for a for a future kindle, we here at Fey Publishing is very excited about the story and wonderment to come. Unlike The Chalice, The Blood Crown will focus primarily on the two vampires Cadmus Pariah and his arch-nemesis Orphaeus Cygnus as they travel by foot from Jerusalem to Rome to retrieve the second mysterious relic that is sacred to the Vampire Great Hive. Throughout the story, we will learn more of the ancient alien Elfin Tarmi, and their role in human development throughout the long ages.

We will also learn how Cadmus came to learn of the Blood Crown and the horror he enacted on another to acquire this knowledge. Not for the light of heart, The Blood Crown is a necessary and important story that connects both the first and the last of the The Vampire Relics trilogy. We hope you enjoy it.

If you know of anyone who may be able to do a cover illustration for The Augury of Gideon, please let me know. I have an idea of what I want for The Blood Crown, but I'm still unclear on The Augury of Gideon. Perhaps I might keep it simple and have a jewel drawn for the cover. I just don't know yet. It's too far off into the future to make a concrete decision.

theafaye is amping up the promotion of The Vampire Relics beginning with The Chalice with a variety of campaigns to bring attention to the novel and trilogy, hopefully with my help. My idea initially is to mention the series on Live Journal and on Facebook at least once a week while encouraging others to help me spread the word about what I believe to be a wholly magnificent story. We're also hoping to get an interview with Barry Andrews and get his thoughts on his involvement in the creation of the story and his new Shriekback album. I'm asking you the favour to pass along the information about The Vampire Relics. If you haven't read the first of the series, I strongly urge you to go ahead and do so because The Blood Crown will be released later on this year, continuing the adventures of Cadmus Pariah and delving deeper into the the Vampire mythologies. It'll help to know what's going on with The Chalice so you'll have a more profound understanding of the narrative in The Blood Crown. So help us out here and be sure to get your copy of The Chalice soon!

Even more for the Horribledays to be over, I want money for a commission. acook will do the cover of the next book for me on commission and she's so good at what she does, I'm thinking it would be the best cover yet. What I have in mind is Orphaeus and Cadmus traveling, the Staff of Cadmus being a kind of focal point that contrasts with their faces. I'm already looking for good pictures of Barry Andrews and Danny Elfman to give her ideas of what I want. Even though the book's name is The Blood Crown, I don't want a picture of the crown because of it's deadly nature. All that could be pictured would be the crown and I want Cadmus in the mix somewhere. He is, after all, the star. Orphaeus having such a big part in the book dictates that he's also a must have for the cover.

I thought about the picture that luvthyjoker drew of Cadmus and Faust, but it wouldn't work out. It would mislead the reader. Even though Faust plays a major part of the book, the book isn't really about him, it's about the grudging bond formed between Cadmus and Orphaeus and their quest for the Blood Crown. I would very much like to include the picture of Cadmus and Faust inside the book if that's doable. It's something I must ask theafaye if she doesn't read this and answer me before I have a chance to ask.

I asked m0usegrrl about it, but never got a reply back, so I don't think she's interested in pursuing other ventures in the realm of the Vampire.

Anyway, acook would ask for an initial commission to do the picture and I don't blame her. She's a fantastic artist with her back against the wall financially. The least I could do is pay for the piece of art she comes up with. It would also give her some recognition, just like I want to give gunslingaaahhh and luvthyjoker. I want to help as many friends as I can in this grand adventure of publishing. They've been so good to me, I cannot let the favour just slide. I may be a high-functioning sociopath, but I do know right from wrong, and I always always protect my friends. I don't use people, no matter how much they deserve it sometimes, and acook is one of the few who do not deserve it.

I told her I'd draw a loose sketch of what I wanted and then she can run with it. There's no rush really. The second book won't be out for a while.

I've created a page for The Vampire Relics and am hoping to get as many members as possible over there. I'm planning on a contest or two, and there will be some teasers from the books placed in the discussion section as we move toward release date. Please join if you're on Facebook and bring all your friends too!

I plan on flying with the Green Fairy, thanks to b_bopper55. How will proofreading go with that? I may not proofread at all. I may write whatever comes to mind and then we'll be in trouble.

Speaking of writing, I've decided to finish The Moon Myths. Some are featured in The Vampire Relics, but a lot are not yet written. I'll be nice to get back to something completely Pagan and possibly even have a publisher for it that is not Llewellyn. I have nothing against Llewellyn, but a lot of people seem to, so I'd prefer not to go that route if at all possible, like they'd publish me anyway ~ but never mind.

I've had some good luck with the Green Fairy in the past, mainly because I have to drink it fast at first. It has a licorice taste, which I abhor, so I burn off the taste buds quickly. After that, it's sipping and hallucination time. I am bound and determined to write down everything I think or see while I'm under the influence. I can't wait. I literally can not wait! Whee!

If you have a Facebook, why don't you join the Vampire Relics community? There are excerpts from the books, updates on when they'll be published, and hopefully a surprise or two down the road. Come join in on the Vampiric fun!

Just a few moments ago, I finished The Augury of Gideon. This was momentous for me because I was emotionally invested in how the story was to end and was at odds with my Inner Writer as to the completion of the story. My Inner Writer won.

Now, it's my job to return to The Blood Crown and edit it while I ponder The Augury of Gideon. After I'm finished editing The Blood Crown, I'm passing it on to gunslingaaahhh for the professional edit, then I'll do a final proof. The same will go for The Augury of Gideon. Wash, rinse, repeat. I'm hoping to have Crown ready to send to Sophie by September and Augury by October. Then, if she wants to do sixth-month releases, she'll have everything she needs.

Except art. I need to get with m0usegrrl on the art. I'm thinking for Crown, Cadmus with his head hung down, holding the crown by his side as rivulets of blood drop from it. For Augury I envision Gideon holding a book (moleskine) that has drawn on it the most beautiful uncut ruby you could imagine.

If I could have that, I would be such a happy camper, I might even do a badly choreographed jig.

I'm sworn off television news for the duration of their showing images of oil-soaked animals dying in amongst balls of tar. I can't bear to see it. It makes me want to throttle every last human being on Earth. If it weren't for our greed, and I say our greed because I drive a car too, this would never have happened. I wish I were in better health. I'd volunteer to go down to the Gulf of Mexico and help the rescue effort for these poor creatures. I'd go armed with a barrel of Dawn strapped to my back.

MS Publisher has fixed it to where you can't alter their HTML before uploading to your host. What you have is what you've got, whether it's what you want or not. This does not amuse me because I used to go in and diddle with the code before ever publishing. As a result of that revelation, posting a simple front page turned out to be a fiasco that made me look like the dumbass I am when it comes to webular publishings (Webular is a Barry word, I can't take credit). Other than MS dicking with what little mind I have left, I also am agonising over the fact that I can't just type in www.vampirerelics.com and go straight to the front page. I get a 403 Verboten page instead. So, that said, if anyone wants to eyeball the site, you must type in this: http://www.vampirerelics.com/index. Voila! Cadmus and the gang will pop up and say howdy, but only in IE Explorer right now. I've already gotten word that the page might have difficulties in Firefox, probably a side effect of MS Publisher being fretful and possessive. GAH! I must give super-special props to xevokitty, who's been putting up with my rampant stupidity for nigh on to two weeks. Still, she endures, offering insights and tweaks of support. I'd be floundering about like a fish out of water if it weren't for her.

I'm currently rocking out to Lady GaGa. I love her. I've noticed that a lot of folks in my generation adore her, but many in the younger gens can't stand her. I chalk this up to the fact that Lady GaGa is making music eerily similar to the tuneage from the 80s. Everything is in a 20-year cycle (or 19, I guess I should say), so it stands to reason that a lot of the music of today sounds a lot like the music from the late 80s and early 90s, auto-tune notwithstanding. I saw an interview with Cyndi Lauper where she made the comment that we needed artists like Lady GaGa. I couldn't agree more.

Ah, and I finally saw Alice in Wonderland. Johnny Depp was always his wonderful selves in this and the soundtrack was sublime. Mad Hatter still spooks me, but kind of in a good way. I'm happy to announce that I will not be writing Hatter fanfiction. And a communal sigh of relief can be heard around the world.

"Despite Dense Weed" just came on iTunes. Time for me to go hide in a corner and shiver.

I know, I'm such a dweeb, but I can't write right now and my mind has been blown trying to work with this new version of MS Publisher (Microsoft should die for having changed it). So I'm sitting here watching Chronicles of Riddick and drinking cheerwine, and I decided I'd go ahead and cast the Relics, should it ever be made into a movie (like I would have any say, but anyway...).

Aaaand that's all I have for now. I seriously doubt the story will ever make it to celluloid, but a girl can dream, especially since I always saw this as a movie anyway. What's the harm in dreaming any ol'ways?

I'm waiting for the characters for The Augury of Gideon to talk to me enough to help me find my way around the narrative of the novel. I know how it's going to end, but that's pretty much all I know, and that's frustrating. It's a good thing that there's going to be some time between the release of each book because I'm beginning to think that The Augury of Gideon is going to be a bitch to write.

Let's see... as it stands now The Chalice will be released sometime in November or December, then The Blood Crown will come approximately a year after that. If I took 12 to 16 months to get The Augury of Gideon written, that'd be enough time for gunslingaaahhh to edit it and m0usegrrl to do the artwork. There would still be several months for Sophie to do her publishing magick and the book could still be available for purchase before the Alpaca Lips.

Since The Blood Crown is finished, though, and I'm the impatient type, I may want to ride on the wave of enthusiasm and take Sophie up on possibly publishing the books in six-month increments. Not sure if she'd be up for that or not. It was mentioned in passing, so I'm not sure if she was altogether serious about that. It may not even be an option if I continue to have difficulty with The Augury of Gideon. Then again...if I catch my stride with Augury and if Sophie is open to the idea, all three books could be out by late 2011 and that would give people the opportunity to read them before the Alpaca Lips!

I've gotten the domain "vampirerelics.com" for serious cheapness and I'm getting free hosting if I can ever get the two linked up. xevokitty is helping me with this and I am forever grateful for her knowledge and skill in this. I feel like a moron. I mean, I know how to use FTP and the importance of ISP addresses, but I just can't seem to get there. When stuff like this happens, I get the distinct impression that I am a total idiot who needs to be beaten soundly with a computer.

The Vampire Relics domain has been acquired and I now have to wait for 60 days before I can transfer it to another host. xevokitty is going to host the site for free. It'll be a place where people can learn more about the books and also access Fey Publishing and Amazon so they can purchase the books. I'd also like to have a place where people can write fanfiction or submit fan art if they so wish.

I've signed the contract with Fey Publishing and sent it on its way. I've also linked Fey to The Vampire Relics page on Facebook. When I go into a partnership with anyone, and I consider this a partnership, I go whole hog as the Southernism goes. I'm hoping that Fey and I have a long and prosperous partnership and arrangement.

Lots of people want signed copies of the book. Fey is in New Zealand. I'm in South Carolina. We'll have to figure out some way to make that happen. Signed copies might cost more to cover the shipping that would be involved in Sophie sending me the books and then my either sending them back to her for shipment or shipping them myself. Not sure how that will happen, or if it can even happen at all. I'd like to think it could, though. It heartens me that so many people want signed copies. I never knew so many people thought that much of me. Anyway, if you're on Facebook, join Fey for updates on all their publications, including mine. And also join The Vampire Relics! I'll be updating regularly as I write The Blood Crown.

The way it looks, The Chalice will be out for ordering some time in November. By then, I should be finished with The Blood Crown, if not long before then. I'm writing like a crazed fool on The Blood Crown and gunslingaaahhh is going to have her work cut out for herself with this manuscript. I wrote a good bit of it whilst being tested on various anti-depressants and anxiety medicines. Do you see where this is going? It's a wonder I didn't write about Cadmus singing "I love to sing-a about the moon-a and the June-a and the the Spring-a." That's just not Cadmus' style. That's more Faust.

I'm putting a moratorium on talking about LOST today. I cry every time I mention it and I can't write if I can't see the screen for the tears. DAMN DAMON, CARLETON, and JJ! I love you guys, but DAMN!

I've begun the business page for The Vampire Relics on Facebook. Feel free to join if you're so inclined. Here's the link: The Vampire Relics.

I've also withdrawn from people who no longer have anything to do with me or who pain me to have in my life. Maybe I'm wrong by doing this, but the deed is done and that's all I can say about it. I'm also withdrawing from some folks on LJ. I'm feeling very insular of late and, for that, I apologise. Please don't take it personally. If you object to my actions, please let me know and I'll add you back. It's just a matter of never communicating is all. Please to forgive.

I just need my mind where it's supposed to be, focused on a good outturn for myself for once instead of promoting others, especially others who seem unappreciative of my work or treat me like I'm invisible over months of friendship and bonding. It's a new chapter. I'm traveling with people who want to be with me and with whom I enjoy being. Maybe the anti-depressants are taking effect. Whatever. I feel good. It's time to work on positive things.

Sophie wrote me back to tell me she's working up the contract now. We're going to put out one book a year, the first book probably being released by the end of the year.

Someone, and I can't remember who, suggested I should buy the domain for The Vampire Relics. I think this is a brilliant idea, but I'm not sure from whom I should buy. I already have hosting, thanks to xevokitty, which is cool. I'm just not sure how good the page would look. My html powers are weak at best. I'm sure I can throw something relatively nice together to give people an idea of what it's all about.

I need to speak with m0usegrrl and luvthyjoker about art and who wants to do the cover. They've both expressed a desire, but luvthyjoker seems to be out of the picture for now. Besides, m0usegrrl was the first artist to ever draw Cadmus and I really like her style. Even Barry expressed fondness for the picture.

Yesterday, in the midst of massive squeeness, I wrote just under 1200 words. It should be easy to write 3000 each day and bring The Blood Crown to a close. The boys are currently murdering fellow Vampires in Ankara, Turkey. I could not do the travelling scenes like I want were it not for Google Earth and gunslingaaahhh's mapping two routes for the Vampires to travel. Thankfully Vampires travel swiftly; otherwise, I'd be a raving basket case by now. Oh. Wait a minute.

Cadmus is very much in the forefront of my mind now. When I'm in Cadmus-mode, even my actions are altered. I always found this a bit strange and, for lack of a better word, crazy until recently. evcelt sent me a link to an interview with Russell Hoban. In that interview, Mr. Hoban said: "When I write a book, I don’t have a plan or an outline. The characters move the action, and the action develops the characters. When I write a book, I become an actor, really, taking the role of the person who is speaking or acting at the time, and so their reactions to whatever they see are my reactions." This made me feel so much better about how my characters speak to me or even embody me, the way Cadmus does. They have things to say that I don't even realise until what needed telling has been told on paper (or Word as the case may be). gunslingaaahhh calls it method writing. Whatever it is, I dig it, especially now that I know one of my favourite writers experiences much the same with his characters.

Okay, I'm off to write. I'll be back after 3000 words have been committed to the tale.

I had to take an Ativan, I'm so freaked out by the news I got this morning. I feel like I just want to crawl out of my skin and play my ribs like xylophones. I've now committed to writing at least 3000 words a day to get The Blood Crown and The Augury of Gideon finished. I work best under pressure, so this is a good thing. I'm just going to pretend it's November and run with it like crazy. For now, for today, I'm gonna focus on the reality of this letter and let the excitement have its way with me. Then tomorrow (maybe later today), I'm off to work.

I've decided to write 'The Blood Crown' and 'The Augury of Gideon' simultaneously. The Augury is something with which I will need help, if you're willing. I want you to submit to me any and all manner of Vampire prophecies that you may come up with. If they're even remotely applicable, I shall include them in 'The Augury of Gideon' with full credit, of course, to each contributor. Gideon is/was a lunatic with a kind of multiple personality situation going on. His prophecies often might have been mistaken for incoherent babbling and was also referencing Cadmus Pariah. I'd like to see what you would say if you were Gideon. Your opinions and ideas are of great import to me.

dYes, I'm a bit obsessed. You live a story for as long as I've lived with The Vampire Relics, you get a little focused to the unhealthy point. I'm to that point. Seriously. I just finished my fifth read-through of The Chalice, the first three being poor efforts at best, the fourth editing being done by the deft eyeball of gunslingaaahhh, then the final draft being read by myself. I suck at proofreading. I don't just suck, I SUUUUUUUCK. I want to read it and get it over with. I skip things. I know what's going to happen, so why rehash what's already been read a bazillion times? I have issues. I forced myself to read every last word, even down to the two letter words, which included fo instead of of. I have serious issues.

So it's pretty much settled that The Chalice is more of an introductory book, featuring the character of Cadmus Pariah and the effect he had on those unfortunates who encountered him. Now, here's where I make it abundantly clear that Cadmus is supposed to be ethereally beautiful in order to attract his true prey, other Vampires. It's not that I don't think that Barry Andrews is a real lovely human being, he's just ten times more so as the Vampire predator Cadmus. Think of the male preying mantis: he knows his head is going to be chewed off after gettin' it on with the female, but he just...can't...resist. The head-chewin' was fan-freakin'-tastic, man! After the fifth in-depth reading, I just hope that B doesn't think I'm sort sort of "nutter fan."

So, without further a-do, here are the definitive characters of The Chalice and the tentative characters of The Blood Crown and The Augury of Gideon. So here's a list of all the characters I could think of, none of them are in order except for Cadmus Pariah and Kelat'Menan, so don't think any one character is any more important than any of the others. Granted, some are more important and that will come out as the story progresses, but assume nothing.

The Chalice

Cadmus Pariah

Kelat'Menan

Dmitri "Thaddeus Brannon" Oskarov

Orphaeus Cygnus

Maria "Eve" Kipling

Paine Bryerson

Agatha Crawford

Bates

Jasmin

Gideon the Mad

Thiyennen Vathyella

Jonathon Macolocek

Virginia Dare

Nissius Romanus

Galantine

Genevieve

Lola

Hercules

Persephone

Marjoram Diamante

Piety

The Apostate

The Blood Crown

Cadmus Pariah

Kelat'Menan

Orphaeus Cygnus

Genevieve

Persephone

Lola

Hercules

Mary Magdalene (Madeleine Branch)

The Apostate

The Final Magus

Faust / Kallum McCreary

The Son of Sam

Steve Rubell

Sister Rosetta, the Angel

Gideon the Mad

Pretani Land-Dancer

Saint Rhyll

Rebekah

Mephistopheles

Vaadel

Mnemiva

Euphrosinae

The Augury of Gideon

Cadmus Pariah

Kelat'Menan

Dmitri Oskarov

The Apostate

Gideon the Mad

Kallum McCreary / Saint Faust

Rebekah of Judea

Mephistopheles

Thiyennen Vathyella

Eve

Sydney

The Dragon Matrice

The Spirit of Memory / Kelat'Senat'tha

The Court of Immortality

Orphaeus Cygnus

The Dreamlife of Dragons

This is by no means a character list set in stone except for the list for The Chalice, which is complete. Certain character appearances are most definitely the Apostate, Faust/Kallum McCreary, Kelat'Menan, and Dmitri/Thaddeus. The rest are miasmic appearances at best, appearing in accordance to the ebb and flow of the story and where it will take us. Some will be nothing more than memories which will affect the story and its outcome. Others will be resurrected characters in different incarnations, which will play as much if not more importance to the story as they did in their original incarnation. The only constants that I can see are Cadmus Pariah, Kelat'Menan, and her mate Dmitri/Thaddeus. I know how the story will end. Getting there will be the pain in my ass. I've lived with Cadmus Pariah since 1988. I can't just let him go so easily as the storyline might demand I do. He will remain with me for my entire life, I fear, like a wayward son gone terribly terribly wrong.

I foresee short stories that involve Cadmus' dreadful deeds. I can't say farewell to my favourite child and best character. I'd like to think that Barry Andrews wouldn't be very happy to see his demon child bid the world, real or imagined, such a swift adieu. We'll see. Either way, he'll be an intrinsic part of all three stories in The Vampire Relics, or what I've become fond of calling the Vampire Psaltery. I like to see the kind of writing within the stories as a song in prose, written in cycle so that, even though there's repetition, it's an intentional thing to make the story a thing of beauty and the characters entities that encompass not only beings of depth and reality, but also entities of myth that could be embraced by those inclined to walk the truth as found in the Beauty Way.

The key to all of this is Cadmus Pariah. His story is told by a madman who trod the cycles of prophecy. The primary question is, is Kallum McCreary or Cadmus Pariah the story being told by Gideon the Mad? Or are their stories the same, intermingled along with the tales of all the other stories sung in the psalteries of the Vampire Relics? Who is brave enough to find out, to bear the repeated death of the Vampire Saint or the eventual humility and judgment of Vampire Accuser? Not even I know for certain what it's going to be, not until the final stanzas of "(feels like a) planet" by Shriekback combined with "Gin-Soaked Boy" by The Divine Comedy. I still find it incredibly humourous that Barry Andrews and Scott McClure are at distinct odds with one another in the main story of the Vampire Relics. Honestly, neither are really that different from the other. Both are rather fond of comedy and Scott often takes himself more seriously than Barry ever would. That is an English trait methinks. Nothing would thrill me more than to see those two at one another's comedic throats. I think, by age alone, Barry woud win. That and his command of the English language. I could be slightly biased there, not that such a linquistic throw-down would ever happen. Although stranger things have happened, that's to be certain.

But there you go, a tentative list of characters in the The Vampire Chronicles and not a one of them sparkles, although I may get Cadmus to sparkle just once for shits and giggles. We'll see.

I finally got a chance to add a description and interests to the Vampire Relics' LJ Community. Why don't you shuffle on over there and take a gander, then join up and read the narrative and tell us what you think? Don't worry. We can take a beating. ;)

Just click the groovy banner below. Oh, and tell all your friends, too. That'd be niftic.

My head has been fuzzy for the past few days, thanks to new migraine and depressions meds. At least I'm sleeping now, albeit too much. Either there's an excess or never enough, never a balance of anything. A couple of days ago, I bit the bullet and opened up The vampire_relics both here and on Face Book. It's gotten a larger reception over there, I guess because there's more people over there.

gunslingaaahhh has already begin the editing of The Chalice and I must say that, so far, she's doing a fantastic job of it. What she's doing is posting the edited portions on the LJ group and the link to the edited portions on the FB group, since Face Book isn't very conducive to formatted material. I'll post a link to the edited portions here as where, so here goes: The Prologue.

I'm planning on posting a series of videos to the Vampire Relics Face Books, songs and visuals that have helped to inspire the course of the story over the years. Victims should come to expect the 'Gin Soaked Boy' tribute to Charlie Chaplin, 'Try to Believe' by Oingo Boingo, some footage of Shinzon, a couple of songs by Concrete Blonde and, of course, more Shriekback. Without music and visuals, there would be no story. Everything is a cycle.

I never go through a Thanksgiving without thinking of the return letter Todd and I got in the mail while still working for the Readers Digest division of BMG. It was written phonetically by an obviously non-native English speaker. I remember it perfectly and transcribe it here for you.

I do not laik musick in mai laif. I hef beth laif in trable. -- Teng You

We were working overtime that night and spent a good thirty minutes of BMG's precious time slumped on the desk in literal hysterics. Yes, we had to wipe out eyes. Or..yes, we hed to waip owr ai's. That was in 1991 I think because I recall working a lot of overtime to help Todd with returns letters during the time "Walk on the Ocean" was popular. Oh, and speaking of "Walk on the Ocean," it was also during working overtime that I called the radio station to request that song, not knowing a contest was going on. I ended up being the correct caller and winning two tickets to a male strip show. All I wanted was my freakin' song. I gave the tickets to a coworker and ended up buying the Toad the Wet Sprocket album.

Another odd memory of those days was the BMG open house in 1988. Todd and I were grabbed by this person in an elephant costume and we had a picture taken. We never found out who was in the costume and, years later, still got a little freaked out by it. "Attacked by Furries!" on Fox News at 10!

Why do these memories flood forth now? Perhaps it's because I'm high on coffee. Perhaps it's because I got a good night's sleep for once in forever. Perhaps it's because I miss Todd and miss happier days. Perhaps it's all of the above combined with the fact it's Tengsgiving. I often wonder about the person who wrote that letter. How can you not laik musick in your laif? I cannot imagine. On a wholly different matter, luvthyjoker showed me the trailer to the upcoming film Daybreakers. While I'm excited about seeing this (Sam Neill as a Vampire, hello?), I'm also a little ticked off because they're using a concept that I use in The Vampire Relics: the idea of humans as blood herds for Vampires (or at least for Cadmus). Just last night I touched upon this again as I wrote furiously for NaNo:

Someday, though…someday, he would be strong enough to overcome her and feed her to her own chalice. And then he would take the Great Hive and make it his personal herd, feeding on the Vampires one after the other until the vermin were removed from the planet forever.And then he would start on the humans, feeding them to the chalice, transforming their blood and drinking his fill.The Earth would be his hunting ground and woe would be uttered by every living thing at his behest.

Now, I've got tons of notes that pre-date this movie by a good twenty years, so I'm not changing a damned thing, they can't make me! Besides, it's not like the world is full of Vampires. It's just this one lone black hole of a Vampire who plans to devour the entire planet someday. Same basic concept, different direction. And that's only his aim, anyway. We still aren't sure if he'll ever succeed.

All of you are invited to the community for my book, or collection of books, entitled The vampire_relics. I'll be starting with The Chalice including the end of that story, then continuing on to The Blood Crown which includes the best piece of writing I think I've ever done (braggity brag brag) entitled "The Sainted Confessor." The community is open and anyone who wants to join may, and may make posts as you feel necessary. I want interaction and criticism. I'm currently working on The Blood Crown for NaNoWriMo, about which I'll document my progress over on The Cliffs of Insanity. And, no I'm not cheating. Even though I've already written "The Sainted Confessor," I'm not counting it in my word count for NaNo. I want to, since it's over 38k words, but I'm not gonna.

If you're curious about my interpretation of Vampires and Vampirism, please join. Not a one of them sparkles, I promise.

I'm trying to keep busy by harassing all of you since NaNoWriMo seems to be down and I'm unable to verify my word count for the day. Lucky you!

I'm in the process of wrapping up yet another Date story, this one being called "The Artist's Date." And, yes, it's a kind of creative payment for art done for me. I think that's how all creative people should gift one another, with the products of their creative effort. I was gifted with some art inspired by "The Sainted Confessor." As a result, I'm writing "The Artist's Date" in return. I'd like to see it paid forward to see how it manifests from one creator to another. It's that creative spark that inspired the first cave paintings and has been running along the longest dynamite fuse of all time. Once the spark hits that dynamite, who knows what will happen? Oh, that's right...2012!

As soon as I finish "The Artist's Date," I need to complete my outline of The Blood Crown for NaNoWriMo. "The Sainted Confessor" was always going to be the largest chapter in the book and, since I had to go ahead and write it thanks to anchoring Faust to the worst person on Earth, it totally messes with my word count for NaNo. It reached novella status, it got so huge (38,605 words!), and I actually had to break it down into mini-chapters. They are entitled: "The Timeless Vagabond," "Session One," "Session Two," "Session Three," "Session Four," and "The Incorruptible Dove." If I reach my 50k for NaNo, the novel will be right at 89,000 words. The Chalice is 88,650 words. That said, I'm thinking that The Vampire Relics will be one great big book with three pretty decent-sized parts. I'll leave a decision like that, though, to my editor. ;)

I know I haven't been the most communicative person of late, thanks to my involvement with The Joker Blogs. Since I'm participating in NaNoWriMo, it's not going to be much better, but I do plan on writing about my progress here. Hopefully, I can keep up with my f-list on a certain level too. I hope so. I miss everyone here.

Speaking of The Joker Blogs, I'll be busy tomorrow getting ready for a double release of Bloggy Goodness Saturday morning. At least that's the plan, not that any of us officially plan anything, in the tradition of The Joker in TDK. We all just "do things." But I will say that I'm slowly preparing for the viral onslaught come Saturday. And I'm pleased that the Halloween task instructions seem pretty clear. No one has really asked "what the hell does this mean?" So I guess I did my job there okay. I love writing out task instructions and Blog synopses, among other things, for Dude. I can't say I've enjoyed doing something this much in a very long time. I'll be sad to see it end.

As for doing things for The Joker Blogs and participating in NaNoWriMo, I don't know where my head is, but I'm going to attempt to do both. The only reason I'm doing NaNo is to finish The Blood Crown. If I don't make my 50k because I'm busy with The Joker Blogs, then so be it. I made a promise months ago and I intend to stand by that promise no matter what. Either way, I'll be winning because I'll be that much closer, if not finished with, The Blood Crown. And then I can move on to The Augury of Gideon.

Aunt Tudi and I have errands to run early tomorrow morning. I'll be purchasing more energy shots while I'm out...just in case. If they aren't needed, then at least I'll have them for NaNoWriMo and don't think I won't use them. I'm a maniac.